Wednesday, September 18, 2013

'THERE WILL BE ANOTHER DAY.....'By Peadar O'Donnell ; first published in January 1963.
Michael Collins pleaded a plan for evolving clear of the limitations Britain had in mind for the Irish parliament (sic) : "We will operate a dark hand within all government departments" , he told Dick Barrett, who was executed with Liam Mellows , Rory O'Connor and Joe McKelvey (pictured here) at Mountjoy Jail on December 8th , 1922 , "to make certain that all government departments push forward along national lines." By "dark hand" , Collins meant, no doubt, manipulation by the IRB('1169...' Comment - it should be remembered that the IRB accepted the 1922 Treaty as offering that which it was fighting for and it later dissolved itself) .He became the victim of his own great gifts as a conspirator. ( '1169....' comment - the 'dark hand' by Collins, in reality, was the 'wink and nod' that he gave , as if he was 'conspiring' to carry on the fight in relation to securing a British withdrawal from the Occupied Six Counties. His actions proved otherwise.)
The road Collins took to the Treaty was a road of retreat, but what of Arthur Griffith , and how much of an influence on Collins was Griffith , or was Griffith in his eyes merely another 'Eoin MacNeill', to be pushed along by an IRB conspiracy ? Home Rule was Griffith's goal , but the 1920 Act must provide an escape from partition in the Treaty version of it before he could undertake to help guide the people back to it. The Treaty must contemplate all Ireland. Lloyd George agreed.
But the Six County Government (sic) was a fact, and that fact too must be contemplated. The Treaty would , therefore, extend to all Ireland, but it must give the Government of the Six Counties a right of choice , to stay in or opt out. Thus , in signing the Treaty, Arthur Griffith signed an instrument relating to all Ireland.(MORE LATER).

THE ANATOMY OF AN AFTERNOON : THE STORY OF THE GIBRALTAR KILLINGS........

By Michael O'Higgins and John Waters. From 'Magill Magazine' , October 1988.
Sometime after the SAS arrived in Gibraltar, and before March 4th , 1988 , an advisory group was formed to assist the Commissioner - this included Soldiers 'E' and 'F' of the SAS , Soldier 'G' , 'Mister M' (who was in charge of the surveillance) , and others. Over the Friday and Saturday , March 4th and 5th 1988 , a number of briefings took place of each of the elements involved in the operation , culminating in the Commissioner's own briefing of all the personnel involved, at midnight on the Saturday.
Meanwhile , Mr Canepa issued instructions that an Operational Order be prepared to cope with the situation : this was a police document outlining personnel requirements , the objectives of the operation (ie 'the arrest of the IRA ASU') and emphasising the importance of using minimum force. It also dealt with details of the surveillance operation, the defusing of the expected bomb , and procedures for gathering evidence for the subsequent trial of the IRA members.
This Order was issued to all senior Gibraltar police officers involved in the operation, including the Head of Special Branch whose officers would be armed and who was therefore instructed to give his men a detailed briefing in the 'Rules of Engagement' : those 'Rules' would be a recurrent theme of the inquest , the 'rock' upon which the Crown and soldiers' case was founded. (MORE LATER).

ANNUAL EVE OF ALL-IRELAND RALLY , DUBLIN.

" One of the largest public rallies seen in Dublin for years was held by Sinn Féin at the GPO on the eve of the All-Ireland Football Final . Headed by a Colour Party and a pipe band , a parade of more than 2,000 people marched from Parnell Square through the main city thoroughfare as a protest against the continued unjust imprisonment of Irishmen without charge or trial . Contingents from all over the country took part and many carried banners and placards including groups from England and Scotland . In the Ulster section was a strong representation of the Derry supporters who thronged the capital city for the Final . One placard they carried asked - ' Why are Six-County Nationalists interned in the Curragh?' ....."(From 'An tÉireannach Aontaithe/The United Irishman' newspaper , November 1958.)

Those attending the Rally(on Saturday 21st September 2013) are requested to join same at 1.45pm at the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square , from where (and at which time) the parade will be leaving from to make its way to the GPO in O'Connell Street.

The organisers have assembled 400 'leaflet packs' for distribution on the day , a total of 1,800 items of republican literature : 300 of the 'packs' contain five items each and the other 100 'packs' contain three items each. And I am one of those who has been tasked with distributing same , so look out for me somewhere between O'Connell Bridge and the Ambassador Theatre and, if you bump into me, please take a 'pack' , or two, as I hardly ever get to attend the actual Rally itself , as the leaflet 'packs' have to be distributed first. See you there!
.
18TH SEPTEMBER 1867 : "THESE IRISH ARE REALLY SHOCKING , ABOMINABLE PEOPLE.....

.......NOT LIKE ANY OTHER CIVILISED NATION." - the words of Britain's 'Queen' Victoria (pictured) , on hearing about the 'Manchester Outrage' , as she called it.Her comments were replied to by one of the 'uncivilised Irish' people she was speaking about : "I will die proudly and triumphantly in defence of republican principles and the liberty of an oppressed and enslaved people..." - the words of 18-years-young William Allen , from Bandon, County Cork.The "Outrage" , as far as the British are concerned , anyway , began on the 11th September that year (1867)(....although , in reality, it began for us Irish in 1169) when , in the early hours of the morning of Wednesday , 11th September 1867 , two men were arrested by police in Shudehill , Manchester, on suspicion that they were about to commit a robbery. The two men were charged under the 'Vagrancy Act' and were detained in police custody , and it was then they were recognised (by fellow Irishmen in British police uniforms) as Colonel Thomas J.Kelly and Captain Timothy Deasy , two known Fenians.Their comrades in Manchester , which was the 'Bandit Country' of its day , vowed to free the two men and , on the 18th of September , 1867, as a prison van carrying the two men (and a 12-years-young boy , plus three female prisoners) was travelling on the Manchester to Salford road , on its way to 'deposit the cargo' in Belle Vue Gaol on the Hyde Road in Gorton , Manchester, accompanied by a team of 12 horse-mounted policemen , it was attacked by about 50 Fenians . Kelly and Deasy were handcuffed and locked in two separate compartments inside the van , guarded by a police Sergeant , a Charles Brett, and, as such , were unable to assist their comrades outside. The mounted police escort fled the scene on seeing the number of attackers but Brett was obviously unable to do so : the Fenian rescuers were unable to force open the van and advised Brett that it would be for his own good to open the doors and let the prisoners go. Brett refused the offer , and was looking through the keyhole to further assess his situation when one of the rescuers decided to shoot the lock apart - the bullet went through the keyhole and hit Brett in the head , killing him instantly. One of the female prisoners had the good sense to take the keys from his pocket and hand them out through an air vent to those outside , and Kelly and Deasy were taken to safety.Twenty-six men were later arrested and tried for playing a part in the rescue , and five of them were detained to stand trial , on 1st November 1867, for their alleged part in what the British called the "Manchester Outrage" : all five were actually sentenced to be hanged , but one was granted clemency and another was 'pardoned' as the evidence against him was found to be perjured. The other three - William Allen, Michael O’Brien and Michael Larkin - the 'Manchester Martyrs' , were hanged in front of thousands of baying spectators on Saturday , 23rd November 1867 , in Salford, Manchester ,outside the New Bailey Jail.In an address to the court , William Philip Allen , 18, stated - "No man in this court regrets the death of Sergeant Brett more than I do, and I positively say, in the presence of the Almighty and ever-living God, that I am innocent; aye, as innocent as any man in this court. I don't say this for the sake of mercy: I want no mercy—I'll have no mercy. I'll die, as many thousands have died, for the sake of their beloved land, and in defence of it. I will die proudly and triumphantly in defence of republican principles and the liberty of an oppressed and enslaved people. Is it possible we are asked why sentence should not be passed upon us, on the evidence of prostitutes off the streets of Manchester, fellows out of work, convicted felons—aye, an Irishman sentenced to be hanged when an English dog would have got off. I say positively and defiantly, justice has not been done me since I was arrested. If justice had been done me, I would not have been handcuffed at the preliminary investigation in Bridge Street; and in this court justice has not been done me in any shape or form. I was brought up here and all the prisoners by my side were allowed to wear overcoats, and I was told to take mine off. What is the principle of that? There was something in that principle, and I say positively that justice has not been done me. As for the other prisoners, they can speak for themselves with regard to that matter. And now, with regard to the way I have been identified. I have to say that my clothes were kept for four hours by the policemen in Fairfield station and shown to parties to identify me as being one of the perpetrators of this outrage on Hyde Road. Also in Albert station there was a handkerchief kept on my head the whole night, so that I could be identified the next morning in the corridor by the witnesses."" I was ordered to leave on the handkerchief for the purpose that the witnesses could more plainly see I was one of the parties who committed the outrage. As for myself, I feel the righteousness of my every act with regard to what I have done in defence of my country. I fear not. I am fearless —fearless of the punishment that can be inflicted on me; and with that, my lords, I have done." However , he then added the following - "I beg to be excused. One remark more. I return Mr. Seymour and Mr. Jones my sincere and heartfelt thanks for their able eloquence and advocacy on my part in this affray. I wish also to return to Mr. Roberts the very same. My name, sir, might be wished to be known. It is not William O'Meara Allen. My name is William Philip Allen. I was born and reared in Bandon, in the County of Cork, and from that place I take my name; and I am proud of my country, and proud of my parentage. My lords, I have done."Michael Larkin ,32, lived in the Banagher region of County Offaly and was a tailor by trade. He was not of good health and himself and his two comrades were captured as they carried him away from the scene of the rescue. He , too, addressed the court : " I have only got a word or two to say concerning Sergeant Brett. As my friend here said, no one could regret the man's death as much as I do. With regard to the charge of pistols and revolvers, and my using them, I call my God as witness that I neither used pistols, revolvers, nor any instrument on that day that would deprive the life of a child, let alone a man. Nor did I go there on purpose to take life away. Certainly, my lords, I do not want to deny that I did go to give aid and assistance to those two noble heroes that were confined in that van—Kelly and Deasy. I did go to do as much as lay in my power to extricate them out of their bondage; but I did not go to take life, nor, my lord, did anyone else. It is a misfortune there was life taken; but if it was taken it was not done intentionally, and the man who has taken life we have not got him. I was at the scene of action, when there were over, I dare say, 150 people standing by there when I was. I am very sorry I have to say, my lord, but I thought I had some respectable people to come up as witnesses against me; but I am sorry to say as my friend said—I will make no more remarks concerning that. All I have to say, my lords and gentlemen, is that so far as my trial went, and the way it was conducted, I believe I have got a fair trial. What is decreed a man in the page of life he has to fulfil, either on the gallows, drowning, a fair death in bed, or on the battle-field. So I look to the mercy of God. May God forgive all who have sworn my life away. As I am a dying man, I forgive them from the bottom of my heart. God forgive them."Michael O'Brien ,31, from Ballymacoda in Cork, was a lieutenant in the US Army and was better known in England by the name 'William Gould'. He delivered the following speech to the court : "I shall commence by saying that every witness who has sworn anything against me has sworn falsely. I have not had a stone in my possession since I was a boy. I had no pistol in my possession on the day when it is alleged this outrage was committed. You call it an outrage, I don't. I say further my name is Michael O'Brien. I was born in the county of Cork and have the honour to be a fellow-parishioner of Peter O'Neal Crowley, who was fighting against the British troops at Mitchelstown last March, and who fell fighting against British tyranny in Ireland. I am a citizen of the United States of America, and if Charles Francis Adams had done his duty towards me, as he ought to do in this country, I should not be in this dock answering your questions now. Mr. Adams did not come, though I wrote to him. He did not come to see if I could not find evidence to disprove the charge, which I positively could, if he had taken the trouble of sending or coming to see what I could do. I hope the American people will notice this part of the business." He then read a passage from a paper he was holding - "The right of man is freedom. The great God has endowed him with affections that he may use, not smother them, and a world that may be enjoyed. Once a man is satisfied he is doing right, and attempts to do anything with that conviction, he must be willing to face all the consequences. Ireland, with its beautiful scenery, its delightful climate, its rich and productive lands, is capable of supporting more than treble its population in ease and comfort. Yet no man, except a paid official of the British Government, can say there is a shadow of liberty, that there is a spark of glad life amongst its plundered and persecuted inhabitants. It is to be hoped that its imbecile and tyrannical rulers will be for ever driven from her soil amidst the execrations of the world. How beautifully the aristocrats of England moralise on the despotism of the rulers of Italy and Dahomey—in the case of Naples with what indignation did they speak of the ruin of families by the detention of its head or some loved member in a prison. Who has not heard their condemnations of the tyranny that would compel honourable and good men to spend their useful lives in hopeless banishment?""They cannot find words to express their horror of the cruelties of the King of Dahomey because he sacrificed 2,000 human beings yearly, but why don't those persons who pretend such virtuous indignation at the misgovernment of other countries look at home, and see that greater crimes than those they charge against other governments are not committed by themselves or by their sanction? Let them look at London, and see the thousands that want bread there, while those aristocrats are rioting in luxuries and crimes. Look to Ireland; see the hundreds of thousands of its people in misery and want. See the virtuous, beautiful and industrious women who only a few years ago—aye, and yet—are obliged to look at their children dying for want of food. Look at what is called the majesty of the law on one side, and the long deep misery of a noble people on the other. Which are the young men of Ireland to respect—the law that murders or banishes their people or the means to resist relentless tyranny, and ending their miseries for ever under a home government? I need not answer that question here. I trust the Irish people will answer it to their satisfaction soon. I am not astonished at my conviction. The Government of this country have the power of convicting any person. They appoint the judge; they choose the jury; and by means of what they call patronage (which is the means of corruption) they have the power of making the laws to suit their purposes. I am confident that my blood will rise a hundredfold against the tyrants who think proper to commit such an outrage. In the first place, I say I was identified improperly by having chains on my hands and feet at the time of identification, and thus the witnesses who have sworn to my throwing stones and firing a pistol have sworn to what is false, for I was, as those ladies said, at the jail gates. I thank my counsel for their able defence, and also Mr. Roberts, for his attention to my case."All three men shouted the words "God Save Ireland!" at different times during the 'trial', perhaps realising that , then , as now , the British were going to get their 'pound of flesh' one way or the other. Nowadays , however , they sometimes take it in another fashion.

God Save Ireland!

LOYALISTS AGAIN THREATEN TO 'DIG UP CATHOLIC DEAD...'

Pro-British loyalists in the Six Occupied Counties have again threatened to 'piss on Catholic graves'.Although I am not inclined towards religion at all , I don't hold a grudge against those who are and would never seek to dissuade them from 'believing' or interfere with their right to do so. Each to his/her own etc , in that regard, but it's just not an issue of interest to me.If you do a 'Google Search' for 'Carnmoney Cemetery Loyalist threat' you will find that this latest threat is not a recent development from these religious and sectarian bigots - '....these loyalists desecrated almost 30 graves at Carnmoney Cemetery on the outskirts of North Belfast on Sunday 20 May 2006......last year around 200 loyalists gathered outside Carnmoney Cemetery and disrupted the blessing of the graves. They also threatened to dig up the graves of Catholics in the cemetery while in 2003, a group calling itself the Loyalist Action Force, a cover name used by the UVF, issued a death threat against local priest Fr White.....threatened to urinate on the graves of Catholics unless the bodies are disinterred and removed from Carnmoney cemetery in County Antrim....worshippers were forced to run a gauntlet of sectarian abuse as they attended an annual blessing-of-the-graves ceremony at the multifaith graveyard.....up to 200 loyalist protesters disrupted a Catholic church service at a cemetery on the outskirts of Belfast today. The mob, some of who were waving placards and blowing horns and whistles, gathered at the Catholic Blessing of the Graves service at Carnmoney Cemetery in Newtownabbey.....more than 20 memorials at Catholic graves in the cemetery were vandalised....crosses were smashed and headstones overturned....'And they have their supporters , too , in their community -

- misguided , certainly , and that's bad enough , but when you take into account that those bigots and their supporters have political and financial backing from Stormont and Westminster , it changes the scenario from frightening to dangerous and gives our readers abroad some idea of the moral destruction that Britain has foisted on the Irish and, indeed, on the peoples of every other country they have 'kept the peace' in. Even after the British withdraw completely from this country - and they will , eventually - that sick mindset will still be prevalent amongst some of those they leave behind but it will be then possible to prove to that type that they are 'reacting' to a 'threat' which actually doesn't exist and never did exist : the 'Catholic threat' was just one avenue used by British political and military strategists to 'keep their people loyal'. In the meantime , however , this problem will continue and the 'British Bulldog' will continue to bare it's borrowed 'teeth'.

TWO THUGS FIGHTING OVER YOUR LUNCH MONEY.

Fine Gael says it wants it all , but it's partner-in-crime , Labour, says let's not be greedier than we have to be - let's just take some of it , and leave the rest until later. The issue is that there are two main problems with the FG/Labour position - the money that both are looking foris that leftover from the last times they took income from the citizens of this State and there is now no more to give , plus the fact that those being threatened are only too aware that the money they will take - whether it's Fine Gael's 'all' , Labour's 'some' or a compromise amount - will only be a stopgap until they want more. Also known is the fact that it is being taken for the wrong reason ie not to improve the State health system or to assist the young , old, employed or unemployed , or to upgrade the poor education system, but to pay back a debt for monies borrowed by State politicians to 'bridge the financial gap' created by gangsters , thieves and rogues in the banking field and their equally greedy colleagues in the property market who financially ruptured this backward State by gambling with money they didn't own and/or who built shoddy dogbox-size apartments ('flats') and marketed them for outrageous prices.One thing is certain : however much they take this time will drive more people over the brink - emigration , family break-ups , unemployment and suicides will increase whilst the number of us staying here , for family or other circumstantial reasons , will be told to shoulder the financial burden , thus leading to more family break-ups , unemployment etc. Our elderly are '....going to bed at 7pm to remain warm because they could not afford to heat their homes...choosing between food and fuel...can no long afford to keep their pet, and were no longer meeting friends because they could not afford a cup of tea in a café......the price of liquid fuel rose 25%, electricity prices jumped 32% and health insurance premiums have soared 108%.....' The solution is not to get so-called 'different political faces' to run the system - rather it is to implement a different system. And to do so whilst there are still people here to benefit from it.